Starr Construction is a family run business owned and operated by John Starr, his wife Maggie Starr, their daughter Carol Baker, and her husband Zach Baker. Below is a short description of who they are in their own words.

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John Starr

I was born and raised in the Boston area. My father was an avid skier, and Cannon Mountain was the preferred destination. I started skiing at age 3, and when my parents built a second home in Franconia in 1961, my relationship to the area was cemented. I served in the US Marines from 1967 to 1970, and upon returning from Vietnam, a rural outdoor life looked much more appealing, than office life in an urban area. I moved to Franconia, got a job as a ski patrolman at Loon Mountain for a winter, and then went back to school at Columbia University.

I graduated in the spring of 1974, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, looking for work. I knew the trans Alaskan Pipeline Project was about to begin and had always wanted to go to Alaska. Young graduate engineers were in demand in Fairbanks in the fall of 1974, and I quickly found a job with HC Price Co of Bartlesville, OK. They had a contract to build 150 miles of pipeline from the Yukon River south through Fairbanks to the Salcha River. I asked Maggie, if she had any interest in coming to Alaska, and soon we were on our way. It was 2 years to construct, a year to start up, and then 4 years doing oil field/gathering center related work in Prudhoe Bay. The hours were long, but the experience was priceless. By this time I was married to Maggie, and we had three young children, Carol, Will and Kate. Working in construction camps three to four months at a stretch, then being home for a couple of weeks before going back to a construction camp can be very hard on a marriage and family. I wanted to live somewhere that was good for raising kids, but also had what I call a complete community, where all generations are represented: children, parents, and grandparents. Maggie agreed with me, and the Franconia area seemed like a good fit.

In 1979 we purchased a piece of land in Bethlehem with a south facing view of Cannon and Lafayette, and in 1981 we moved back. Over the next 3 years, we lived in the family house in Franconia, while we began Starr Construction Inc, and built our own house on the land in Bethlehem. We are still here. The kids have grown up, gone to college, started out on their various journeys, and after seeing a good bit of the world, our eldest daughter and her husband, have returned.

Community Service:

In the time not devoted to my family and Starr Construction I have tried to give back to the community. I joined the NH National Guard in 1982 and served until 2005. I served on the Profile School Board for nine years, two of those years as chairman of the board. I led a Cub Scout pack and later Boy Scout troop 230. For a few years I also served on the board of the Bethlehem Redevelopment Association. I am currently on the board of the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, and chair the building committee for them. I am happy to report that Habitat has just finished up its first house on Grove Street in Littleton.  I am also currently serving as the VP of the local homebuilders association, and have been appointed to the NH State Building Code Review Board to represent the NH Home Builders Association. Currently I am on the Board of Trustees at Littleton Regional Hospital, and perhaps not surprisingly given my background, I was appointed chair of the Facilities and Planning Committee.  

Maggie Starr

I grew up in northern New Jersey and suburban Boston. I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater Arts from Tufts University and made the most of living in a big city. While working in Cambridge after college, I met John, the man of my dreams, who, over time, convinced me there was adventure to be had pipelining in Alaska. And indeed there was! We spent seven years in the Fairbanks area marveling at the winter Aurora Borealis and the summer midnight sun, the size of the land and the size of the mosquitoes, building a pipeline and its pump stations, and eventually building a family.

After six years working in oil field construction we started Starr Construction (AK), residential builders. It was a little scary to be out on our own but extremely satisfying as well. As our company began to take hold we found ourselves at a crossroad. We could continue to grow the business in Alaska or start over someplace else closer to our extended families.

We chose family and we were fortunate to find in the northern New Hampshire woods, beautiful surroundings, a closeness to nature, and a wonderful community, all of which were what we had enjoyed about living in Alaska. Since 1981 we’ve worked hard to build a business based on quality and integrity. I’ve had the honor to make strong professional and social friendships, the satisfaction of becoming involved in the lives of my children and the community, and the pleasure of a life that mingles business, family, and community into a very happy mix.

Community Service:

In the early eighties I served as treasurer and then president of “The Children’s House”, a local Montessori school in Littleton. As our children came through the local Bethlehem school system I volunteered as a scout leader, softball coach, and participated in the PTA and the Curriculum Committee. I am also currently a member of the board of trustees at Littleton Regional Hospital. I have been active in the Hospital Auxiliary for the past twenty years and president for the last two of those.

Carol Baker

Although actually born in Alaska, I had relocated to northern New Hampshire by my third birthday.  I came up through the Bethlehem school systems, before going away to school in my sophomore year. I was away for the next fifteen years, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature at Tufts University, living in New York City for a time, and finally running a surf tourism business in southern Nicaragua. Throughout all of my travels I have always brought along a bit of North Country perspective with me. When it came time to start our family my husband and I couldn’t think of a better place to do so than right here in the Littleton area. So once again I have relocated to northern NH with my family.

Having grown up around the construction business my whole life, it feels more like a homecoming than anything else, working side by side with my mother in the office. She has been successfully running the behind the scenes operation at Starr Construction for nearly thirty years and I am enjoying working under her tutelage. I am excited to be home again, expanding my family and our business, and pleased to have an opportunity to give back to the community that has given me so much.

Zach Baker

I was born and raised in Southern California. As a young man I found it a little crowded and decided to move north to Santa Barbara. There I attended school at the University of California and earned a degree in Environmental Studies. After graduation I traveled to London where I lived for the better part of a year. I then returned to Los Angeles where I worked building television and movie sets for a year in order to make money for graduate school. I was accepted into Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in 2003 and I was off again, this time to New York City. I earned a Masters degree in Public Administration in Environmental Science and Management and also met my wife, Carol. After two and half years of living in New York it wasn't hard to convince her to move to Central America with me to start a surf camp in Nicaragua. Five years later it wasn't hard for her to convince me to return to the states and start our family in the North Country.

I had been working in the trades at various levels on and off most of my life and jumped at the chance to be able to work with John.